How did soft pretzels conquer the Quaker City? It all began about 1850, when an order of nuns decided to bake and sell soft pretzels in order to raise money for a school softball team. In those days pretzels cost only one cent, or three pretzels for a nickel. Soon someone noticed that it all looked like a scam, as softball hadn’t been invented yet. “This is true,” said Mother Superior Annabelle Drexel, OSX, “there is no softball. In truth, we are raising money for our field hockey and cricket teams.” Such a scandal resulted from this admission that the order of nuns had to move themselves and their school out to the farmlands of Radnor, where they built a pretzel factory that lasts to this day.
Author: Hallen Smith
Hallen Smith is a much beloved humorist, financial writer, and newspaper columnist. He specializes in such trivialities as Christmas newsletters and Philadelphia soft pretzels.
